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As professional communicators, we have tools and resources that we use to think strategically, build plans and deliver the finest work we can.

And yet there are those moments.

We’re fired up by love or passion, anger, desire, fear, whatever it may be, that stalls our brain and allows our words to run rampant.

How often, in the heat of a contentious moment, a tough meeting, a harsh encounter, do we stop? How often do we breathe and visualize our words before releasing them?

Winston Churchill said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” (Or as my mother used to say, “Don’t listen with your mouth open!”) But the quote that hits me over the head and also makes me grin is this from Franklin D. Roosevelt: